16May 2013

The Womack Family in DeLeon, Texas, is an incredible resource for commercial and casual fruit growers in Texas. Womack Nursery was started in 1937 by James H. Womack. Larry J. Womack took over in 1964 and still grafts fruit and pecan trees today! His son, Larry Don Womack, currently leads the business which supplies fruit and pecan trees, berries, grapes, graftwood, grafting supplies, roses and some shade and ornamental plants to commercial growers and homeowners alike. They are an important source for appropriate varieties of fruits for the state of Texas.

Womack Nursery hosted an open house, grafting workshop on April 17th at their headquarters west of DeLeon on State Highway 6. Approximately 56 people got to see and listen to tips and techniques of pecan grafting, including the inlay bark graft, 4-flap graft, and patch bud methods. Many of us in the world of research and extension think we know how to graft, but nurserymen like the Womacks and their skilled laborers are the real “masters of grafting”. They literally perform these techniques hundreds of thousands of time, and there is a different level of skill and experience that they are able to share.